When Cops Run Amok

Another pepper-spray incident that defies logic

In the annals of the NYPD, there are good arrests, bad arrests, and downright bizarre arrests. The case of Luis Veras, a recent Lehman College graduate, might fit into the latter category.

What started as a routine, if dubious, traffic stop on Prospect Avenue in the Bronx, somehow resulted in police officers smashing Veras's car window, slapping him with five misdemeanors, a violation, a summons for reckless driving, and five traffic tickets, and manhandling the motorist to the point that, a year later, he still suffers back pain. Veras also got a face full of pepper spray and 16 hours in a holding cell. Police officers processed him through the system; he spent only two hours in the precinct and the rest in booking. And all that happened after Veras called 911 because he was so disturbed by the officers' behavior.

Veras's lawyer, Eric Milner, maintains that the officers were trying to hit their monthly ticket allotment when they initially stopped him.

C.S. Muncy

Luis Veras: from magna cum laude to 'Get the fuck out of the car, asshole.'

"He was stopped to fill a quota," Milner says. "Two different officers wrote him tickets. One ticket was for not signaling a lane change on a road that had only one lane. The tickets were ridiculous. I've never seen anyone ticketed for anything like that in my life."

Lawsuits making this quota allegation are becoming more and more common in the city, a trend fueled by several factors, including media reporting on police officers confirming the existence of quotas for tickets and stop-and-frisks and the ticket-fixing scandal that led to the indictment of 16 officers and will likely lead to administrative charges against more than 100 others.

In February, to cite one example, a Brooklyn jury ruled that the department indeed had quotas, and they were used to violate the plaintiff rights. In addition, a larger class-action lawsuit alleging several dozen New Yorkers were wrongfully given tickets based on quotas is working its way through the courts.

The arresting officer in the Veras case was Gaetano Fundaro of the 41st Precinct in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. Fundaro, as the Voice has reported, lost his title as a police union delegate for pressuring his colleagues to hit ticket quotas mandated by the precinct commander. Those allegations were aired by 41st Precinct officer Adil Polanco, whom the Voice profiled last year. After he reported the allegations, Polanco was himself served with department charges. He claimed that there were quotas for stop-and-frisks and tickets and that crime reports were being downgraded. For two years, Polanco has been on paid suspension, and the department is now trying to fire him.

In his account, Veras, a supermarket seafood clerk with no prior arrests, says he was driving his mother home from a relative's house when he noticed a patrol car was following him. The officers ordered him to stop. Veras turned off the car, placed the keys on the roof, and put his hands on the steering wheel.

The officers accused him of running a red light and "almost crashing into" their car. Veras protested that there was no red light for him to run. The only thing there was was a stop sign, and he had followed the law. A second patrol car arrived. The initial officer gave Veras a reckless driving summons. Veras was told to "stop being a smart ass."

Veras retrieved his keys and pulled into traffic. Just then, the second patrol car screeched alongside him and ordered him to stop again. Veras asked why he was being stopped. The officer said, "You're being arrested for being a smart ass."

Veras asked him to call a sergeant to the scene. "I figured something would happen to me," he says. "He was aggressive, hitting the window with his flashlight. They weren't listening to my requests, so I called 911."

The 911 operator eventually said she was going to transfer Veras to Internal Affairs. More officers arrived, haranguing him to get out of the car. "Get the fuck out of the car, asshole," one officer said.

"I rolled the window down a bit and asked for time for a sergeant to arrive, and one of the officers started tapping on the glass with what looked like a blackjack," Veras says.

Then, for reasons that defy explanation, an officer pepper-sprayed Veras, and another broke the window glass. Veras took off his seat belt and emerged from the car. As he did, they grabbed him. He dropped the phone and was tackled until he was face down on the ground. He was handcuffed on his right hand, and his left was pinned under him. But police accused him of resisting arrest, and the kicking and punching started, Veras says.

"Three or four officers were hitting and kicking me," Veras says. "I was hit many times, on the head, back, and neck. I had cuts on my hands and forehead."

The officers dragged him into a patrol car and took him to the precinct. When he was asked why he didn't get out of the car, Veras repeated that he wanted to speak with a sergeant. "He said there were two sergeants there," Veras says. "I didn't see them. Then he said, 'When a police officer tells you to do something, you don't question it.'"

This is one reason why I no longer live in NYC and it's sad to say that this happens everywhere!! Weather or not the story is true there are some truth behide every story! Luis my sympathy goes out to and your mom!....

“Citizens may resist unlawful arrest to the point of taking an arresting officer's life if necessary.” Plummer v. State, 136 Ind. 306. This premise was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case: John Bad Elk v. U.S., 177 U.S. 529. The Court stated: “Where the officer is killed in the course of the disorder which naturally accompanies an attempted arrest that is resisted, the law looks with very different eyes upon the transaction, when the officer had the right to make the arrest, from what it does if the officer had no right. What may be murder in the first case might be nothing more than manslaughter in the other, or the facts might show that no offense had been committed.”

“When a person, being without fault, is in a place where he has a right to be, is violently assaulted, he may, without retreating, repel by force, and if, in the reasonable exercise of his right of self defense, his assailant is killed, he is justified.” Runyan v. State, 57 Ind. 80; Miller v. State, 74 Ind. 1.

“These principles apply as well to an officer attempting to make an arrest, who abuses his authority and transcends the bounds thereof by the use of unnecessary force and violence, as they do to a private individual who unlawfully uses such force and violence.” Jones v. State, 26 Tex. App. I; Beaverts v. State, 4 Tex. App. 1 75; Skidmore v. State, 43 Tex. 93, 903.

“An illegal arrest is an assault and battery. The person so attempted to be restrained of his liberty has the same right to use force in defending himself as he would in repelling any other assault and battery.” (State v. Robinson, 145 ME. 77, 72 ATL. 260).

Let's get the names of those cops printed so we can form an action committee and hunt these guys down and execute them. Since the courts won't do anything, since the FBI refuses to do anything, we have the right to take action into our own hands and hang these terrorists by the limbs of trees until they are dead. Lets form a group and call it Americans for Freedom and when terrorists commit acts and the authorities refuse to take action, that's where we will take action. After we execute all of the bad cops, life will be better; just wait and see.

hmmmmm, I don't know, but this story doesn't add up and usually when it doesn't add up its not true. I'm not a huge fan of the cops, but I try and take everything with a grain of salt. Clearly this guy now/will sue the city so its important to write this story the way it is. ALSO, it is very clear that this reporter agenda against the nypd. All he writes is anti-nypd which makes him lose credibility in my book. This guy doesn't have an objective bone in his body. Seems like every ambulance chaser that contacts this guy gets a full write up. Even the voice, at some point, has to realize this guys ability to report the facts objectively is jeopardized by his own agenda. I can see the news table now, "So, graham, let me guess, another story about the nypd"

Well, guess the rat squad might hit those cops with five-day rips,but then they'll get props on Thee Rant and a racket thrown for them by Pat Lynch and the boys.Sure that Popeye and the midget would be proud of them as well had it not gone to press.

to like or not to like is not the issue, it seems like nypd has a problem with those like this reporter dont turn the other cheek, like 98% of those politicians who are suppose to be looking into these trends of a bloomberg and kelly bad breed.but are simply afraid, or simply it doesnt involve theirs, so they dont care. a public service can only go as bad as those elected officials and funny unions let it go and both done a great job doing nothing, think about the tix fixing there are more serious issues in nypd to be addresed from quotas to crime reports manipulation to racisssssssm, think about the people in the grand jury who are subject to the harmful quotas now have cops begging not to get indicted pat lynch keep supporting quotas and keep watching cops get indicted. and yes racism because the % of those arrested and stopped are most minorities. who are not all ciminals it will be the same to assume all white people are racist or every single cop is bab which is not the case

hey peter...these your friends or something? btw..no one cares about your book and we need to hear these stories because as you undoubtedly know...there are cops that are worse than the people they need to keep off the streets. i live in the Bronx...and most cops here are a perversion of the law because its all about stoopid tickets and quotas. if i had to guess by PIGters tone...he's just outside the city..Yonkers perhaps? L.I.?hopefully you wont be subject to some bully ass cops but if you are....how many millions will you ask for when you sue?